Automatic equalizer for brick-setting cranes



Jan. 259 1924.,

J. H. BACH AUTOMATIC EQUALI'ZER FOR'BRICK SETTING CRANES Filed Nov. 1, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 29 1924. 1,482,365

J.H.BACH

AUTOMATIC EQUALIZER FOR BRICK SETTING CRANES Filed Nov. 1, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a %4 W4 A! Patented Jan. 29, 1924.

UNITED STATES Lttwtt Parana samba.

JULIUS H. RAGE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN EQUIPMENT COM- PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

AUTOMATIC EQUALIZER FOR BRICK-SETTING CRANES.

" Application filed November 1, 1920. Serial No. 420,940.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULIUs H. BAOH, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented an Improvement in Automatic Equalizers for Brick-Setting Cranes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My present invention relates to cranes, and more particularly to automatic eguallzing attachments, for cranes used in setting brick in kilns and the like, whereby the brick setting device is always kept in perfect predetermined alinement.

In setting brick by mechanical devices, such as cranes and the like, it is desirable, and practically essential for successful working, that the setter carried by the crane be kept in perfect alinement so that the fingers of the setter may always be kept perpendicular to theunit of brick in entering or leav-.

ing the same. As the crane operator fre-.

quently runs the crane ahead of the setting machine in order to get the weight or push A of the setting machine to assist it to .enter the unit of brick, the sheave wheels tend to slide longitudinally on their shaft, with the result that the fingers on the setting machine are not at all times perpendicular to the face of the kiln or unit to be lifted, and more or less difficulty is experienced in gettin the fingers in and out.

I am enabled to overcome the difiiculties heretofore experienced, an enumerated above, by attaching a worm to a non-rotatable shaft, a nut working on said worm and attached to and rotatable with the frame having sheaves rigidly attached thereto, over which sheaves pass the ropes leading from the crane drum to the setting machine. As the sheaves rotate, due to a movement of the ropes either up or down, they are moved longitudinally of the non-rotatable shaft in either direction, as the case may be, and are thus kept in correct register the lead of the worm having been figure to correspond exactly with the lead on the 0 drum.

The principal object of my invention, therefore, is an improved automatic equalizing attachment for cranes and the like for maintaining a device carried by the crane Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a brick setting crane, showing my improved device attached thereto; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation, on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a shaft, rigidly secured at its ends to plates 11, 11, so as to be non-rotatable, and on this shaft 10 is rigidly mounted, by keys 12, 12, a worm 13, of a pitch corresponding with the pitch of the drum 36 of the crane. pair of sheaves 15 are slidably mounted on a non-rotatable shaft 10, and spaced apart from each other, by a plurality of rods or shafts 16, these rods or shafts, being reduced and threaded at their ends to re ceive the sheaves 15 and nuts 17. On the rods or shafts 16, and intermediate the ends thereof, i mounted a nut 18, having a diameter and pitch equal to the diameter and pitch of the worm .13 and with which it is associated. Pins 19, driven throu h the rods or shafts 16, on either side 'of t e nut 18, prevent undue movement of the nut longitudinally of the rods or shafts 16, and therefore the sheaves 15. It is obvious, therefore, from the above description, that the sheaves 15 are maintained a fixed dis tance apart, and if the sheaves are-rotated, the nut 18 will rotate on the fixed worm 13 and move the sheaves 15 to the right or left, as the case may be.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 4; and 5, I have shown two of the devicesabove described, incorporated in a commercial form of brick setting machine. In these figures 2O designates I-beams forming the crane frame, these beams being spaced apart by bearing struts 21 securely bolted to the .said beams at each end thereof, a pair of said struts 21 being located at each end of the beams, as shown in Fig. 4. Rotatably mounted in the bearing struts 21 is a shaft 22, near each end of which and between each pair of struts 21, is securely fastened a pair of flanged wheels 23, these wheels shafts 27 and 28 being mounted in sai pairs so as to provide means for rotatably' frame and carrying wheels 29, which allow the frame to be moved longitudinally of said I-beams, for the purpose of positioning the mechanism, carried by the frame, in any position between the abutment walls 25. worm 30, mounted in the said frame, and rotated in any suitable manner, meshes with and rotates a worm wheel 31 mounted in a bearing 32, depending from the said frame. ThlS worm wheel 31 is provided with a key way that cooperates with a key 33 attached to and extendin lengthwise of the shaft 22. Rotation of the worm wheel 31, therefore, causes a rotation of the shaft 22 and a movement of the I-beams 20 and mechanism carried thereby, along the rails 24. Mounted-on said' frame are bearing blocks 34, these blocks being arranged in mounting the parallelly arranged shafts 35., each of these shafts 35 carryin a cable drum, but one of which, 36, in Iig. 5, is shown; Mounted on each shaft 35, adjacent one end of the drums, is a gear 37 of suitable diameter and pitch, these gears meshing with each other to ensure that the drums will rotate in opposite directions and at the same time, Also mounted on said frame in any suitable manner is a shaft 38 carrying the pinion 39 meshing with one of the gears 37 and by means of .which said gears are rotated. This shaft 38 is rotated in any suitable manner in either direction, but as the means by which said shaft 38 is rotated does not concern the present invention, it has not been illustrated.

Fastened to each side of the said frame drums 36, and the diameter thereof, are

equal respectively to the pitch of the worm 13 and diameter of the sheaves 15, so as to ensure that the cables 42, attached at one end to the drums, and passing over the sheaves 15, will be retained in perfect alinement with each other regardless of how much or in what direction the said drums are rotated. This arrangement ensures therefore, that the brick setting mechanism 45 attached to the lower ends of the cables 42, and particularly the brick lifting fingers 43 of said mechanism, will be maintained perpendicular to the kiln or abutment walls 25, or in any predetermined angular position with respect thereto, regardless of the position of the I-beams 20 along the rails 24, position of the said frame on the I-beams 20, or the height of the lifting fingers 43 above the floor of the kiln or other structure.

While I have described the preferred embodiment of my invention somewhat in detail,-it is to be understood that I may vary the size, shape and arrangement of elements constituting m device within wide limits without departmg from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new-and desire to secure b Letters Patent, is: 

